Usually closed to the general public, the gate leading to the hospital wing of Eastern State Penitentiary is marked with a red cross. When I visited, the already creepy historic site was made even more unsettling by the rain dripping into the crumbling hallways and forming puddles amidst tangled, rust-covered hospital beds. It seemed perfect place to sit down with William Eubanks, director of The Signal.

In his latest triumph Alejandro Jodorowsky travels back to his native Chile to bring us the “imaginary autobiography” The Dance of Reality. As the film went on and the subject matter became more tragic, I knew I was watching the work of a filmmaker who promises nothing but fulfills everything. An artist so ambitious that he demands no less of himself than to strive for a little immortality, even if it takes twenty-three years to do so.

Since Orson Welles first made his love of the Tarot known in the 1958 masterpiece Touch of Evil, there has been a calling to filmmakers everywhere to look to the cards and make something extraordinary. Philadelphia filmmaker Hanna Hamilton has done just that with her latest work The Fool’s Journey, a visual experiment comprised of twenty-two short films devoted to the twenty-two cards of the Major Arcana. I was able to interview Hamilton when her film screened at PhilaMOCA as part of their Tuesday Tune-Out, a weekly series that features local musicians performing live before introducing a film of their choice.

Action films may not be the most respected genre when it comes to film buffs. There are a lot of people that I know personally who believe that they exist solely for dumb, popcorn entertainment purposes. If that’s the case, how do you explain John Woo’s ultimate masterpiece, Hard Boiled? This film is iconic and funny, brutally stylistic and engagingly beautiful. It’s an action film that can also be considered a work of art.

Raunchy, loud, and consistently funny, Neighbors shows what happens when a young family trying to settle down meets with college kids looking to live it up. Rogen and Efron fight well against each other as rival neighbors, comically playing with their Pineapple Express and High School Musical pasts with the support of a solid cast across the board. If you want a steady stream of hilarious one-upmanship, Neighbors is a movie to catch.

Jim Jarmusch is the rare filmmaker that is as enthusiastic about film as he is about music, literature, and numerous other arts.This wide berth of knowledge provides the groundwork for his latest effort, Only Lovers Left Alive.Overflowing with references to everyone from Rodney Dangerfield to Schubert, Jarmusch hypnotizes as often as he confounds in a film that praises the virtues of beauty and love at a time when they need it the most.

The Sacrament is Ti West’s best film yet. We follow three VICE correspondents into a utopian community called Eden Parish; they want to investigate for the show and meet the one they call “Father”. Ti West revels in the slow burn suspense, and the way he ratchets up the tension is masterful. The end game is reminiscent of a real moment in history, but as seen here it carries a weight and an inevitability that will leave you shaken as the credits roll.

PFF22 Alum The Sacrament is now available VOD.

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Keegan Handley is a film major at Temple University interested in the cinematic form and all it has to offer. He’s a lover of music and good beer and is partial to horror movies but appreciates any and all flavors of movie…even the bad ones. A huge fan of intricate camera shots, he hopes to one day contribute both his writing and his burgeoning Steadicam prowess to the film world.

I saw it on Cult Weekend at the Uptown Minneapolis Theatre, along with my favorite bad movie The Room, on the last weekend of the month. Now, I’m going to take an unpopular position and say that Rocky Horror is not a good movie like many argue, but is so bad that it’s rather entertaining. Now, before you find me with your pitchforks, at least give me a chance to explain why.

As the aristocratic French Captain de Boeldieu (Pierre Fresnay) lies prostrate on his death bed, a gunshot wound in his stomach just off screen, he utters to his assassin, the German Rittmeister von Rauffenstein (Erich von Stroheim): “For a commoner, dying in a war is a tragedy. But for you and I, it’s a good way out.” And so goes ‘the grand illusion’ of Jean Renoir’s 1937 masterpiece, a war film that is curiously less about the hostilities of World War I, and perhaps more concerned with a shared humanism in the wake of an abrupt new world order.

Amma Asante’s Belle paves the way for future costume dramas with the true story of Dido Belle Lindsay, the daughter of an enslaved African woman and Admiral John Lindsay. Set in 18th century Britain, Dido’s lineage causes uncertainty in regards to her freedom, but assures a life of solitude and continued prejudice. In the sea of recycled period pieces, Belle stands alone in its feminist-friendly portrayal of a woman of color. Just not for too long, I hope!